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A visit to the doctor's office?

Forty years ago many doctors worked out of home offices, they didnt' have large staffs. Today we see clinics with several doctors, nurses, and a billing department dedicated to billing insurance companies, since every insurer has different billing codes, and payment schedules. People use to pay doctor visits out of pocket, health insurance covered only major medical treatment. Would we be better off having to pay doctor visits out of pocket instead of having a co-pay of $20 - $40, paying $50 for a doctor visit. wouldn't this eliminate the doctors need for having to hire people just to bill the insurance companies?

Public Comments

1. I currently have insurance that does just that. I pay for routine visits and prescriptions and the insurance will cover surgeries, accidents etc. In my opinion it's great. And a far better value than the other options. The currently proposed HR 3200 would essentially "invalidate" my coverage as it is. Sure I could keep it, but because it is not a "Qualifying Health Care Benefit" I would have to pay a 2.5% tax penalty on my adjusted gross income.
2. The problem is that a simple doctor visit would be more like $600-$1200 and only the very rich could afford it.
3. My wife's cousin is a Dr. she has lost more than half her patients due to Norton Health Care wanting 20% more from Anthem/Blue Cross Blue Shield. (she works out of a Norton practice) Anthem is taking Norton to court and will not allow their patients to be seen by a Norton Dr. So much for the Hippocratic Oath. I don't support Socialised Health, when all that is needed is an Ombudsman and/or oversight committee (watchdogs) to keep things in check. The UK is run by this kind of system and rules 90% of the time in favour of the people.
4. if it's good enough for the Amish, it's good enough for me! That's what they do, and they don't have a health care problem!
5. The examples you quote, Sir, justify the overwhelming need you have in the US of A for a public health service such as we have in the United Kingdom. The only people who profit from your current and widely differing systems are the money grabbing insurance companies and their amazingly rich executives.
6. The vast amount of your health care dollar goes to lawyers and CYA medical practices, just in case they have disease x, or condition y. People don't hesitate to sue their doctor. If you want inexpensive medical care, make lawsuits a thing of the past. The Doctors are treating lawyers, not patients.
7. The devil's advocate would say that $50 gets you little more than first-aid today. Will you be happy if your son's broken arm is not set correctly because the orthopedist was not consulted? How about if the cancer was not detected without the expensive test? The world's best medicine is not cheap. But who wanted cheap?